Osteria dell'Orologio, led by Chef Marco Claroni, unveils the essence of the sea through a sequence of remarkable flavor contradictions.
There was a time when Rome and the Lazio coastline seemed to travel in diametrically opposite directions: the eternal city, deeply tied to ancient inland recipes, yet naturally exposed to fresh international influences; and over 300 km of the Lazio coast, where maritime culture told the stories of Anzio and Civitavecchia ports, small fishing boats, and simple, authentic seafood dishes. Then there's Fiumicino, the true bet of the new wave of chefs, where the culinary revolution in recent years has shifted focus from the city to the sea.
In the heart of the maritime city, on the ground floor of the famous building designed by architect Valadier, stands Osteria dell'Orologio, right in front of the canal where fishing boats dock and depart. Marco Claroni, born in 1984, resides here. Occasionally, you can see him exchanging a few words with the locals at the entrance of the beautiful covered veranda. Marco, affable and talented, knows how to make his guests feel at home in an instant. Everyone knows Marco, friendly and talented, and he really knows how to connect with his guests, making them feel at home in an instant.
The story
After high school graduation and a training course at the Italian Federation of Chefs, Marco Claroni begins his steep ascent in the restaurant world with various experiences in the hotel industry and in some well-known restaurants along the Lazio coast.
A pivotal moment occurs at "Tre Bicchieri" in Ostia when he meets his mentor and teacher, the late chef Antonio Chiappini, who will lead him in 2009 to fulfill his dream: opening a restaurant in his city alongside his wife Gerarda Fine, an elegant dining room director and surprising sommelier. In just a few years, Marco and Gerarda succeed in making their dream a must-visit stop on the Lazio coast for seafood enthusiasts.
The restaurant
The cuisine revolves around seafood tradition and a marked agricultural inclination, finding fertile ground in nearby Maccarese. For Chef Claroni, seasonality and quality are the tools to respect nature and the identity of the products. Here, time is dictated by the natural fishing cycle that preserves the rhythms of the sea, never forcing it. His ethical sense is strong and deeply rooted, leading him not only to reduce waste but, on the contrary, to derive innovative recipes from it. Thus, the iconic seafood butcher shop of Claroni is born, reclaiming the profound value of fishing.
Fishing thus reclaims its deepest value, in the name of which Claroni's now iconic sea butchery is born. It is from the years 2018/2019 that maturation, salting, and drying processes begin on the catches from local fishing boats, giving rise to hams, speck, bresaola, sausages, lard, and much more.
For Chef Claroni, these lengthy processes become the ultimate representation of the concept of recovery, as well as a practice of waiting and contemplating the sea. The "showcase" in the small interior room encapsulates the essence of the seafood shop, allowing customers to interact with the processing processes and, above all, with the final phase of the production process.
So, it's a seafood butcher shop, but also a contemporary restaurant where Chef Claroni's curious yet knowledgeable touch breaks down his high-quality raw materials into culinary contradictions: a traditional aspect conceals, in each dish, a clear contemporary taste.
The kitchen
It starts with homemade breadsticks, a variety of bread, and focaccia accompanied by the excellent Quattrociocchi oil from nearby Terracina, as well as a soft anchovy butter foam.
It is followed by a succession of small tastings that color the table and fill the palate, leading it from flavor to flavor to the perfect balance. There's marinated and smoked anchovy with celery oil and red onion gel that shakes the taste between acidity and sweetness. The red prawn, burnt rosemary, centerfold bacon, and lemon with salt, where rosemary and smoke bridge the gap between land and sea. The mussel soup, in a fun single taste, interactively evokes the gestures, taste, and texture of its traditional version. Then comes the tuna with pumpkin scapece, shiitake mushrooms, and hazelnut mayonnaise, and the amberjack with apple salad, cucumber, and yogurt ice. Finally, hake with orange reduction, crab, broccoli, and its head with crab breading.
Now it's time for seafood charcuterie with tuna bresaola, tuna bacon, and amberjack bacon, ranging from the freshest to over two months of aging. Finally, tuna belly, stracciatella and blackberries, and palamita 'nduja with peppers. The illusion that the land has taken over the sea makes its way through the journey in the kitchen of Osteria dell'Orologio. The products exude all of Chef Claroni's knowledge, who, in the slow times of maturation, listens to that instinct that belongs only to those who have learned the craft and made it their own.
The menu is a curious contradiction that recalls land recipes sprinkled with sea salt, as seen in one of the most successful dishes: sea snails, cuttlefish cartilage, buttered potatoes, and green sauce quenelle. Different temperatures meet just as the meatiness of the sea snails disappears into the freshness of the quenelle. Perfect maritime reinterpretations of sausage (made from mullet) with broccoli and yogurt and Roman-style tripe (made from amberjack) give Chef Claroni's seafood butcher shop an irreverent role, undoubtedly amusing the perplexed yet thoroughly satisfied customers.
The first courses are accompanied by a certain static nature. Sauces and creams reestablish the identity rules of seafood restaurants, in their most classic and welcoming sense. There's angel shark tortellini with carrots, almonds, and lupins, as well as risotto with broccoli, mandarin, and smoked mantis shrimp.
In the second courses, the raw ingredients take center stage in its entirety with the angel shark in multiple acts, from cheek to eye, but also with a decidedly more fusion and easily welcoming dish: red mullet, spicy extract, pak-choi, and coconut milk.A sensory journey that shakes the taste and surprises those who experience it, amusing Chef Marco Claroni who hones his skills and creative technique. A playful exchange of roles where inland traditions make room for sea flavors.
Contacts
Osteria dell'Orologio
Via di Torre Clementina, 114 – 00054 Fiumicino (Rome)
Phone. 06 6505251
osteriadellorologio@gmail.com
